Up to his neck in life

He lives there because of his physical condition–complications at his birth 48 years ago deprived his brain of oxygen for 15 minutes. As a result, he has a condition called severe athetoid cerebral palsy. He can’t speak, and is totally dependent on others for his daily needs.

But Gerry would hardly describe himself as special. If he’s going to be given a label, he’d prefer that it was "normal." His comfortably furnished living space at the group home testifies to that.

Bibles and nature videos line the bookshelves, Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance sits beside his computer, and a calendar featuring an attractive girl hangs on the wall. His daily mail might include the minutes of the Edmonton West NDP meetings, where he’s served on the executive, a note from his adopted child through World Vision, and newsletters from the various clubs and organizations to which he belongs.

Gerry is up to his neck in life. He joins groups not only to meet people, he says, but to tell them about the things he considers important: that people need each other, and they need Jesus.

Painstaking process

Gerry has learned to communicate using a headstick attached to a helmet to tap out letters on his wordboard or computer. The process is a painstaking one, with lots of visits to the well-worn "delete" key, as he searches for the right words and letters to convey what he really means to say.

Using that painstaking process, Gerry wrote two books, and is working on two more. The first, Accepting Reality, is a short autobiography which also documents his spiritual struggles.

His second book, Lives That Jesus Touched, is a collection of stories. Biblical narratives about healing are interspersed with contemporary stories of families who have struggled with the effects of disabilities.

His friend, Dick Paetzel, met Gerry about 10 years ago when Gerry attended a night class that Paetzel taught at North American Baptist College. The two are both members of West Meadows Baptist Church, where Gerry attends services, joins Bible studies, and helps with groups and committees.

If the church is a body, says Paetzel, then Gerry would be the conscience of the body. "He reminds people of what they often forget–to accept each other," he says. Paetzel helped Gerry extensively with the editing of his second book and says the books are a way of communicating to others his beliefs and his faith.

While some people might consider him a saint as they watch him persevere against his handicaps, Gerry has a different perspective. He recalls a former Bible teacher whom he thinks of as a real saint.

"We never talked about politics," says Gerry, "because he was on the far right and I’m a strong supporter of the NDP. But he said, ‘Hang up your political hat at the door to church because at the cross, the ground is level.’"

And what is a real saint? According to Gerry, "if it’s someone who never sins, then I am not. If it’s someone who doesn’t struggle, I have a few struggles not because of my disability but because I’m a sinful man. I know the Lord forgives me when I fall into sin. I ask him to forgive me. I don’t mean I can keep sinning. I agree with Paul’s letter to the Romans–7:13-25, especially 7:21-25."